"Your Majesty, I hereby impeach Pei Kunfu, the Minister of Revenue, for embezzling public funds, accepting bribes, misappropriating tax revenue, and colluding with officials in the Imperial Treasury to embezzle and steal gold and silver from the national treasury."

Lord Yu held a stack of evidence and exposed Pei Kunfu to His Majesty.

He didn't keep track of the exact amount, but he had solid evidence on hand.

Pei Kunfu is indeed corrupt, but as he is not an official of the Court of Judicial Review, he cannot determine the exact number of times he committed these acts or the amount of money involved.

His Majesty was furious. Pei Kunfu saw the evidence, and although he repeatedly denied and refuted it, Lord Yu had "done his homework." The witnesses and evidence were all interconnected, and his denials were ineffective.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Pei Kunfu cursed Lord Yu: "The person who came to my study to coerce me was actually someone you sent? You despicable villain, you are even more hateful than the people from the Imperial City Guard!"

Leng Luojun, whose name was mentioned, frowned and held up a stack of evidence in his hand: "Your Majesty, I also want to impeach Lord Pei!"

With evidence in hand, Lord Yu was full of confidence.

With a serious expression, he said, "If you don't want others to know, then don't do it in the first place."

Pei Kunfu was able to rise to the rank of a second-grade official, so naturally he wasn't confused.

The Censorate is a bunch of mad dogs that are hard to deal with. Once they bite, they won't let go, especially since there's solid evidence.

Their actions cannot withstand further investigation. If he doesn't quickly confess to everything, not only will he be unable to escape, but the entire Cheng'en Gong faction behind him will also be unable to escape.

As long as the faction of Duke Chengen exists, the Pei family's nine generations will be wiped out.

If I take all the blame and die alone, I might be able to save my children and grandchildren, and even my entire family; otherwise, I won't be able to save a single one.

"Your Majesty, I know my crime..." He cried, tears streaming down his face.

Before he could defend himself, Emperor Hui roared, "Pei Kunfu, take him to prison and hand him over to the Court of Judicial Review for a thorough trial."

The Ministry of Revenue, that is His Majesty's purse, is now back in His Majesty's hands.

Pei Kunfu's ability to rise to the rank of a second-grade official and become the Minister of Revenue was due to his extensive connections.

Moreover, Emperor Hui did not give him a chance to take the blame alone this time, and investigated the matter thoroughly.

Embezzlement, bribery, misappropriation of tax revenue, collusion with treasury officials, misappropriation and theft of national treasury gold and silver... these activities cannot be accomplished by one person alone.

Therefore, this purge mainly targeted officials of all ranks in the Ministry of Revenue, and also involved the other three departments.

More than 100 people were dismissed from their posts, including 18 officials of the fifth rank or above.

All officials in the Imperial Treasury, from top to bottom, were either killed, imprisoned, or exiled; they were all replaced.

The Cabinet provided full oversight.

The Ministry of Personnel was busy with the appointment and removal of officials.

The Dali Temple was busy adjudicating and deciding cases.

The Imperial City Guards worked day and night, confiscating property, beheading, and exiling!

The imperial court was thoroughly purged.

His Majesty was pleased with Lord Yu's merits, praised him verbally, and bestowed upon him many gold and silver treasures.

He said emotionally, "I know that the Censorate is not easy. Not only are they incorruptible, but they also do things that offend people. But you are all loyal and have served as my eyes and ears."

The people in the Censorate were all crying. They cried because His Majesty was so considerate of them, and they also cried because of that damned Lord Yu, who had stepped in so much dog shit and yet every impeachment he made was accurate!

Whether Pei Kunfu admitted to crimes or not, the Dali Temple used forceful means to make him admit to them.

His hope of dying alone did not come true. He, along with his five sons and four brothers, were all beheaded, and his entire clan of uncles, nephews, and cousins ​​were exiled three thousand miles away.

Before being exiled, Leng Luo led a team to raid the house!

More than ten million taels of gold and silver, as well as countless jewels and paintings, were found in the Minister's mansion and his villa.

During the search of his home, it was also discovered that Minister Pei was "wise in times of peace" and had "three escape routes," meaning he had his own escape routes in Jiangnan and Chang'an.

He not only had wives and concubines, but also mistresses; each place was his treasure trove.

Leng Luo sent people to thoroughly search each "cave," and they found another 20 million taels/strings of gold and silver, as well as several families of mistresses' children.

The fact that this single second-rank official could confiscate wealth comparable to the national treasury infuriated Emperor Hui.

A mere Minister of Revenue could afford to buy two major projects.

copy!

Buy everything up!

The Imperial City Guards were practically raking in the dust! Such a corrupt official had been under their noses for so many years, and yet the Imperial City Guards were lagging behind a mere Censor-in-Chief—this was utterly intolerable!

The men of Minister Pei's household were shackled and exiled, while the women were confiscated and reduced to lowly status. The concubines and unmarried women were selected by the Imperial Music Bureau, and the rest were sold.

The common people were furious when they heard that Minister Pei had found 30 million in gold and silver, as well as countless other valuable treasures, after confiscating his property.

People waited in the street for the Pei family's exile procession, and encouraged by the government, they threw eggs, vegetable leaves, and spat on them...

The curses continued incessantly, echoing for miles outside the city, leaving the entire Pei clan utterly disheveled and humiliated.

As for the women, their situation was even worse.

Pei Yuan stood on the street, watching the group from the Minister's mansion waiting for the best bidder with a mocking expression.

Serves you right!

Fortunately, she severed ties with Pei Kunfu; otherwise, she would probably be in the brothel or tied to a brokerage firm, at the mercy of others.

Several months ago, Pei Yue was publicly reprimanded in the street. When she returned to the Minister's residence that day, she proposed to Pei Kunfu that they sever their ties.

How could Pei Kunfu possibly ask her to sever ties with her family?

The daughter of the Minister's family either dies or gets married; severing ties is absolutely impossible.

Minister Pei was ruthless, and Madam Pei was even more ruthless: "Guards, beat this rebellious daughter to death and throw her into a mass grave."

She thought her mother hated her and would kick her out of the house to fend for herself, but she never expected her mother to beat her to death.

Seeing that her mistress was about to be beaten to death, Tao Yin thought of asking Madam Gu for help.

He secretly ran out to Qingpu Garden and kowtowed desperately to thank Zhaozhao, until his head was covered in blood.

"Madam, please save my young lady. If you save her, I will be loyal to you for the rest of my life, no, my young lady and I will be loyal to you for the rest of our lives."

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